Now comes the cleanup as High River residents head back (with photos)

Abbeyfield House resident John Jackson stands in the retirement home’s dining room where a meal, now covered in mould, sits exactly as it was left almost two weeks ago.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

A mould-covered meal sits exactly as it was left almost two weeks ago when Abbeyfield retirement home residents were forced to move to the second floor of the building overnight to await rescue.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Flood volunteers Dave Gross, left and Mitch McIntyre clear out a flood damaged basement in High River on Wednesday July 3, 2013.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

High River Abbeyfield House resident John Jackson stands in his mud filled and flood damaged room in the High River retirement home. Jackson returned Wednesday and discovered someone had entered his room and stolen his and his recently deceased wife's wedding rings.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

A muddy room in the High River Abbeyfield House retirement home that was badly flooding almost two weeks ago.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

A team of flood volunteers from Pengrowth Energy clean out a flood damaged basement in High River on Wednesday July 3, 2013. The employees are spending the week in High River helping the town get back on its feet.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

High River mayor Emile Blokland, left, and Associate Minister for High River recovery Rick Fraser grab coffee and donut after a press conference at the High River Tim Hortons on Wednesday July 3, 2013.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Flood Volunteers register at the High River rodeo grounds on Wednesday July 3, 2013.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Residents pick up flood relief supplies at the High River rodeo grounds on Wednesday July 3, 2013.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

A hallway in the High River Abbeyfield House retirement home that was badly flooding almost two weeks ago.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

Yahya Abougoush helps clean up his parents' house in High River, Alta., Wednesday, July 3, 2013.Jeff McIntosh
/ Canadian Press

Eddi Abougoush helps clean up his parents' house in High River, Alta., Wednesday, July 3, 2013.Jeff McIntosh
/ Canadian Press

Pumping continues in High River on Wednesday, as crews remove a lake of water from the neighbourhoods of Sunshine and Hampton Hills.Trevor Scott Howell
/ Calgary Herald

A team of flood volunteers help clean out damaged homes in High River on Wednesday July 3, 2013.Gavin Young
/ Calgary Herald

HIGH RIVER — Hundreds of volunteers from across Alberta heeded a clarion call to aid in the recovery of High River as officials trumpeted recovery efforts and the re-entry of another section of the town.

With the reopening of central High River, almost three-quarters of the town has reopened, allowing 6,000 residents to return to their homes and businesses to begin cobbling their lives back together.

Volunteers from across Alberta began arriving early in the morning to two staging areas in High River, including a contingent from Calgary as part of Mission Possible 2, a group that previously helped flooded Calgarians.

By 1 p.m., more than 700 volunteers had arrived in High River and more were expected throughout the day, said organizer Farrah Khoja.

“We’re just people who started in a basement,” Khoja said, adding that up to 4,000 volunteers are expected to pitch in as the cleanup drags on.

The City of Calgary and Town of High River are working to arrange transportation to carry volunteers from the city and into the town, she added.

“We will not send out volunteers into a dangerous situation,” Khoja noted, adding the volunteers are provided adequate safety gear before heading into the town.

John Jackson, 80, returned to his apartment at a seniors’ home Wednesday to survey the damage and pick up personal belongings.

The building, like hundreds of others in High River, is a disaster. An inch of slick mud coats the entire main floor. The basement is filled with water. Plates of half-finished lunches and coffee, now covered in mould, sit on communal dining room table — a stark reminder of how little time residents had to flee the flash flood.

“I’m not eating this food,” Jackson said, pointing to the table. “I don’t need that much penicillin.”

Jackson and about seven other residents spent the first night of the flood in a single room on the second floor, watching as water covered vehicles in the parking lot outside. The next day, the waters had receded, but the group was evacuated from the flooded building by a front end loader and dump truck.

Now returning to his room, he discovered his recently deceased wife’s wedding and engagement rings were missing. Jackson believes someone came into the empty Abbeyfield House Society during the mandatory evacuation and stole the rings.

Temporarily living with one of his sons in Calgary, Jackson said he has been unable to reach anyone who manages the seniors’ home. Despite the loss of his wife’s rings and the shock of returning to a devastated home, Jackson remains upbeat.

“My wife and I had a good marriage, I had 57 good years,” he said, before waving down a passing RCMP car to file a theft report.

While residents like Jackson returned to the central part of the town, much of the east side remains under a lake of water. Contract crews continued to pump massive amounts of water from the neighbourhoods of Sunshine and Hampton Hills.

Giant pumps sucked flood water from two sites at a rate of 380,000 litres per minute, roughly one Olympic-sized pool every 10 minutes, through half-metre pipes and into the nearby Little Bow Canal. Crews hoped to increase that rate to 473,000 litres per minute by Wednesday night.

Some High River residents complained last week about the efforts to pump water out of the town. But Reiley McKerracher, manager of engineering for the town, said the equipment takes days to set up properly.

“You don’t just come in and roll out pipe,” McKerracher said. “The pumps are high pressure ... most of the line is all plastic and welded in place. No garden hoses here, this is big equipment.”

McKerracher said the majority of the Sunshine area would be accessible to inspectors Thursday, but the north side would take much longer.

Standing next to the town’s mayor inside a Tim Hortons in High River, the associate minister of regional recovery and reconstruction, Rick Fraser, hinted at an announcement for re-entry into the eastern areas later this week.

“This is a disaster and it again exemplifies that it wasn’t a normal flood,” said Fraser. “It would have been really difficult to plan for this.”

While the town begins to recover, it is “premature” to have discussions about whether it would be prudent to rebuild flooded neighbourhoods elsewhere, said Fraser.

“We need to get people back into their homes, connected to their personal effects, that’s our primary goal,” he said. “That (discussion) would be further down the road.”

Mayor Emile Blokland said it was “heartwarming” to see the town repopulate and praised volunteer efforts.

“Inch by inch, house by house, business by business, this community is getting back on its feet again,” Blokland said.

Late Wednesday, the province announced a new shuttle service was set up to take volunteers between Calgary and High River.

Starting Thursday at 9 a.m., shuttles are scheduled to leave Mount Royal University and Bishop O’Byrne High School every two hours. The last shuttle to High River from Calgary leaves at 4 p.m. The last shuttle to Calgary from High River leaves at 9 p.m.

Volunteers are told to bring their own supplies: Rubber boots, face masks and gloves, as well as shovels, garbage bags and buckets. However water and snacks will be provided.

More than 900 volunteers have registered to help in High River, according to the province.

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